Rotary toothbrush



1. LT. SNEED.

ROTARY TOOTHBRUSH. APPLICATION FILED APR. 5. 1921.

Patented Feb. 28, 1922.

ljiiilTED STATES JOHN L. '1. SNEED, OF VALTERS, OKLAHOMA.

ROTARY roorrrsrtnsn.

aromas.

Specification ofLetters Patent. Patented Fb 2S 1922 Application filed April 5, 1921. Serial No. 458,768. i

To all 0.0720172 it may concern: 7 7

Be it known that l, Joi-rn Ii. T. Snnnn, acitizen of the United States, residing at Walters, in the county of Cotton, State of Oklahoma, have invented a new and useful. Rotary Toothbrush; and i do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it a-ppertains to make and use the same. i

The invention relates to tooth brushes, and has for its object to provide a rotary tooth brush which is hand operated and so constructed that all surfaces of the teeth may be brushed and cleaned by the bristles of the rotating brush by the engagement of the ends of said bristles with the surfaces. It has been found that it is impossible with the conventional form of tooth brush now in use to reach and clean all the surfaces of the teeth, this defect being particularly true in cleaning the lingual surfaces of the teeth and spaces between the teeth. The clean ing of a tooth with a brush is accomplished by the friction of the brush and the cleaning powder or other material used. The maximum friction is obtained by the ends of the bristles, however in conventional tooth brushes the bristles bend and are dragged over the tooth surfaces during a cleaning operation, therefore it is a further object to provide a manually operated rotatable brush so constructed that all points of the teeth may be reached during a cleaning operation and thoroughly cleaned by the engagement of the ends of the bristles of the rotating brush with the surfaces.

A further object is to provide guiding and holding member for the rotating brush, by means of which guiding and holding member the frictional engagement of the brush with the teeth may be regulated no matter at what angle the brush is held.

A further object is to provide means whereby the rotary brush may be removed from its handle and replaced with a buiiing disc with which the teeth may be scrubbed and polished.

lVith the above and other objects in view, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of. parts as hereinafter set forth, shown in the drawings, described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawings:

Figural is a perspective view oftherotar-y tooth brush showing the same in position for use. V

Figure 2 is an enlarged side elevation of one end of the brush, parts being broken away to better illustrate the construction.

F1gure3 is a detailedperspective view of. the brush end of the device and holding andguiding member, showing the brush as having been removed and replaced by a polishing disc.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral lfdeslgnates a handle member which is adapted to be grasped by one of the hands of the operator and positioned atva'rious angles according to the tooth surface which is being cleaned. Extending outwardly from one end of the handle member lie a shaft 2, which terminates in enlargement 3, against which enlargement thebrush carrying disc 4 is securely held by the screw 5 which passes through said disc and threaded into the end of the shaft 2 as at 6. It will be seen that the brush carrying disc 4 may be easily and quickly removed by r moving the screw'5. The screw 5 is of suificient length whereby after the brush disc 4 has been removed a polishing disc 7 may be secured to the end of the shaft By making the screw 5 of a substantial length, it will be seen that polishing discs of various thicknesses and brushes of various thicknesses may be easily received and held on the end of the shaft 2'. The brush disc l-is provided with regularly disposed bristles 8, thereby :lorming a round tooth cleaning brush 9, which brush 9 may be positioned at any angle within the mouth for cleaning the teeth on all their surfaces and also for cleaning between the teeth. r i

To brace and hold the-brush as a whole as it is intermittently rotated in one direction and reversed during a tooth cleaning operation a holding memberlO is provided which is adapted tobe graspedby the other hand of the operator, by means of which holding member the brush9 may be held at any particular point during its rotation, and also by means of which member the friction on the particular pointbeing cleaned may be varied. The upper end of the holding member 10 is provided with an eye 11 through which the shaft 2 passes, and by means of which eye the shaft may be held during its rotation. The eye 11 is larger than the shaft 2, thereby allowing the holding member to be positioned at an acute or obtuse angle to the handle member 1, thereby allowing holding and bracing of the shaft 1 at various angles.

After a tooth cleaning operation, the brush 9 is removed and the polishing wheel 7 secured to the shaft 2, by means of which polishing wheel a tooth maybe thoroughly scrubbed and polished. During the tooth cleaning operation the shaft 2 may be moved longitudinally in the eye 11 according to the particular teeth being cleaned, tor instance the grinding teeth, at which time it n'iay be necessary for the eye 11 to be positioned adjacent the end of the handle 1.

The invention having been set forth, what is claimed as new and useful is:

A tooth cleaning device comprising a havin its inner'diameter reater than the diameter of the handle member which passes through the same, thereby allowing the holding member to assume an acute or obtuse angle to the handle member, and also allowing longitudinal movement of the eye on the handle member. a

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this-specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN L. T. SNEED.

Witnesses: O. G. SIERLEY,

D. G. COMMONS; 

